Green Bay Packers - Return To Titletown

The stadium was opened on September 29, 1957 and was called City Stadium. The Packer's first game was against the Bears and it resulted in a win by a score of 27-17. In 1965 it was renamed Lambeau Field to honor Curly Lambeau - the Packer's founder and long-time head coach who had passed away earlier that year. Lambeau founded the team in 1919 and after being on the Packer's roster for awhile, he became the team's coach for 31 years until 1949. He led the Packer's to six NFL Championships in 1929, 1930, 1931, 1936, 1939, and 1944. Curly Lambeau is credited with pioneering daily practices, the forward pass in the NFL, implementing pass patterns and flying to road games. In 1961, he was elected to the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame and then inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame's inaugural class in 1963.

Seating Capacity at Lambeau Field

1957 - 32,500
1961 - 38,669
1963 - 42,327
1965 - 50,852
1970 - 56,263
1985 - 56,926
1990 - 59,543
1995 - 60,890
2001 - 65,290
2003 - 73,128

In 2007 the Packers completed their 51st season at Lambeau, breaking the all-time NFL record set by the Chicago Bears at Wrigley Field (1921-70). (While Soldier Field in Chicago has been the site of a football stadium longer, it was not the home of the Bears until 1971.) Only the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park and the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley can boast of longer active home-field tenures in American professional sports.

Curly Lambeau was born in Green Bay, Wisconsin on April 9, 1898 and died of a heart attack at age 67 on June 1, 1965 while visiting a friend in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. He attended Green Bay High School and was the captain of the football team his senior year. Lambeau then played for coach Knute Rockne at Notre Dame in 1918. He made the varsity squad as a freshman but had to return home due to a severe case of tonsillitis before his sophomore year. He was married 3 times but only had one son.

There have been many renovations to Lambeau Field over the years - the last in 2003. Curly Lambeau would be proud!!

When a Packer jumps into the end zone, it is called a "Lambeau Leap" and the crowd stands and cheers. Safety player, LeRoy Butler, who scored after a Reggie White fumble against the L.A. Raiders in December 1993, was the first Packer to do it and thus invented the "Lambeau Leap". Wide receiver, Robert Brooks made it a popular event though.

Of course, in time several non Packers have attempted the leap only to have Packer fans throw their drinks on them. Do not mess with Packer fans. We all remember in September, 2009, Cincinnatti Bengals wideout Chad Ochocinco announced that he intended to do a Lambeau Leap if he scored a touchdown. A touchdown he did score but his leap doesn't really count as he prearranged and paid fans to be on the receiving end of his leap.

GO PACK GO GO PACK GO GO PACK GO GO PACK GO

The stadium's nickname, "the frozen tundra" was coined during the 1967 NFL Championship Game between the Packers and the Dallas Cowboys which was played on December 31, 1967. It was -13 degrees. The underground electric heating system, which was installed the previous summer, failed to operate properly. When the overnight cover was removed from the field in the sub zero temperature, the grass flash-froze due to the moisture from the heated field.

This picture was taken December 1,1985. A record 36,000 fans did NOT show up. Those 19,000 Packers fans that DID show up witnessed the Packers defeat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 21-0, as approximately four to five inches of snow fell during the game alone (about 12 inches fell before the game).

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Vince Lombardi was born in Brooklyn on June 11, 1913. His father was born in Italy and was a butcher by trade. His Italian mother was born in Brooklyn as her parents immigrated from Salerno, Italy years before. After losing their first child, they went on to have two more children. Vincent was born in 1942 followed by Susan in 1947.

The following excerpt is taken from Wikipedia:

On February 2, 1959, at age 45, Vince Lombardi accepted the position of head coach and general manager of the Green Bay Packers. Lombardi inherited a team which in 1958 had lost all but 2 of its 12 games (a win & a tie), worst in Packers history.

Lombardi created punishing training regimens and expected absolute dedication and effort from his players. The 1959 Packers were an immediate improvement, finishing at 7-5. Rookie head coach Lombardi was named Coach of the Year.

In his second year, Green Bay won the NFL Western Conference for the first time since 1944, resulting in Lombardi's gaining the nickname the Pope, from the Green Bay community. Lombardi led the Packers to the 1960 NFL Championship Game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Prior to the championship game, Lombardi met with Wellington Mara and advised him that he would not take the Giants' head coaching job, which was initially offered after the end of the 1959 season.Against the Eagles, Lombardi suffered his first, and last, championship game loss. After the game, and after the press corps had left the locker room, Lombardi told his team, "This will never happen again. You will never lose another championship." (He would win his next 9 post-season games, a record streak not matched or broken until Bill Belichick won 10 in a row from 2002 to 2006.)

The Packers would defeat the Giants for the NFL title in 1961 (37-0 in Green Bay) and 1962 (16-7 at Yankee Stadium), marking the first two of their five titles in Lombardi's 9 years. After the 1962 championship win, Lombardi received a call from President John F. Kennedy wherein Kennedy asked Lombardi if he would 'come back to Army and coach again' - Lombardi replied no without ever saying no. His only other post-season loss occurred to the St. Louis Cardinals in the Playoff Bowl (3rd place game) after the 1964 season (officially classified as an exhibition game). Lombardi had earlier expressed an interest in the head coaching job at Notre Dame and on two occasions wrote letters to the university to that effect. He never received a reply.

Including postseason but excluding exhibition games, Lombardi went on to accomplish a 96-34-6 (.738 winning percent) record as head coach, and he never suffered a losing season. He led the Packers to three consecutive NFL championships--in 1965, 1966, and 1967--a feat accomplished only once before in the history of the league (by Curly Lambeau, founder of the Packers, who coached the team to their first three straight NFL Championships in 1929, 1930, and 1931). At the conclusion of the 1966 and 1967 seasons, Lombardi's Packers teams would also go on to win the first two Super Bowls, solidifying his place as, arguably, the greatest coach in football history. Vince Lombardi had coached the Green Bay Packers to complete championships in 5 of 7 seasons, 1961-67.

The Lombardi Sweep

As coach of the Packers, Lombardi converted Notre Dame quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Paul Hornung to a full-time halfback. Lombardi designed a play for Hornung based on an old single wing concept-both guards pulled to the outside and blocked downfield while Hornung would "run to daylight" -- i.e., wherever the defenders weren't. This was a play that he had originally developed with the Giants for Gifford that would become famous as the "Lombardi sweep" or "Packer power sweep."

Washington Redskins

Lombardi stepped down as head coach of the Packers following the 1967 NFL season, staying on as the team's general manager for 1968. He handed off the head coaching position to Phil Bengtson, a longtime assistant, but the Packers finished at 6-7-1 and out of the four team NFL playoffs. A restless Lombardi returned to coaching in 1969 with the Washington Redskins, where he broke a string of 14 losing seasons. The 'Skins would finish with a record of 7-5-2, significant for a number of reasons. Lombardi discovered that rookie running back Larry Brown was deaf in one ear, something that had escaped his parents, schoolteachers, and previous coaches. Lombardi had observed Brown's habit of tilting his head in one direction when listening to signals being called, and walked behind him during drills and said "Larry." When Brown did not answer, the coach asked him to take a hearing exam. Brown was fitted with a hearing aid, and with this correction he would enjoy a successful NFL career.

Lombardi got quarterback Sonny Jurgensen, one of the league's premier forward passers, into the best condition he could. He coaxed former All-Pro linebacker Sam Huff out of retirement. He even changed the team's uniform design to reflect that of the Packers, with gold and white trim along the jersey biceps, and later a gold helmet with an "R" inside a circle, similar to the famous Green Bay "G" monogram. The foundation Lombardi laid was the groundwork for Washington's early 1970s success under former L.A. Rams Coach George Allen. Lombardi had brought a winning attitude to the Nation's Capital, in the same year that the nearby University of Maryland had hired Lefty Driesell to coach basketball and the hapless expansion Washington Senators named Ted Williams as manager and led the club to its only winning record in Washington (86-76). It marked a renaissance in sports interest in America's most transient of cities. However, Lombardi would never get to see the fruit of his labor in the nation's capital, for he died on September 3, 1970. End of excerpt.

Vince Lombard could be a difficult man for sure but he was a force to reckon with. I believe he changed the course of the Packers forever. On June 20, 1970, Lombardi was admitted to Georgetown University Hospital. He was found to have colon cancer. The following month during exploratory surgery, doctors found his cancer had spread to his liver. There would be no further help for Lombardi. On his deathbed, Lombardi told Father Tim, 'I'm not afraid to die...But there's so much yet to be done in the world.' He died on September 3, 1970 at the age of 57.

# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Age Exp. College

56 Barnett, Nick LB 6-2 236 29 8 Oregon State
64 Battles, Adrian G 6-3 318 24 R Minnesota State
Bell, Josh CB 5-11 177 26 3 Baylor
20 Bigby, Atari S 5-11 213 29 5 Central Florida
55 Bishop, Desmond LB 6-2 238 26 4 California
53 Briggs, Diyral LB 6-3 248 25 2 Bowling Green
75 Bulaga, Bryan T 6-5 314 21 R Iowa
42 Burnett, Morgan S 6-1 209 22 R Georgia Tech
24 Bush, Jarrett CB/S 6-0 200 26 5 Utah State
69 Campbell, Chris T 6-5 328 24 R Eastern Illinois
54 Chillar, Brandon LB 6-3 237 28 7 UCLA
76 Clifton, Chad T 6-5 320 34 11 Tennessee
73 Colledge, Daryn G 6-4 308 29 5 Boise State
36 Collins, Nick S 5-11 207 27 6 Bethune-Cookman
83 Crabtree, Tom TE 6-4 245 25 1 Miami (Ohio)
2 Crosby, Mason K 6-1 207 26 4 Colorado
62 Dietrich-Smith, Evan C/G 6-2 308 24 2 Idaho State
80 Driver, Donald WR 6-0 194 36 12 Alcorn State
88 Finley, Jermichael TE 6-5 247 23 3 Texas
10 Flynn, Matt QB 6-2 225 25 3 Louisiana State
49 Francois, Robert LB 6-2 255 25 1 Boston College
61 Goode, Brett LS 6-1 255 26 3 Arkansas
40 Gordy, Josh CB 5-11 195 24 R Central Michigan
25 Grant, Ryan RB 6-1 222 28 4 Notre Dame
43 Greco, Michael S 6-3 224 23 R Central Florida
95 Green, Howard DE 6-2 340 32 6 Louisiana State
35 Hall, Korey FB 6-0 236 27 4 Boise State
6 Harrell, Graham QB 6-2 215 25 1 Texas Tech
91 Harrell, Justin DE 6-4 315 26 4 Tennessee
41 Havner, Spencer TE 6-3 250 28 2 UCLA
50 Hawk, A.J. LB 6-1 247 27 5 Ohio State
32 Jackson, Brandon RB 5-10 216 25 4 Nebraska
48 Jackson, Cardia LB 6-1 236 22 R Louisiana-Monroe
77 Jenkins, Cullen DE 6-2 305 30 7 Central Michigan
85 Jennings, Greg WR 5-11 198 27 5 Western Michigan
45 Johnson, Quinn FB 6-1 263 24 2 Louisiana State
59 Jones, Brad LB 6-3 242 24 2 Colorado
89 Jones, James WR 6-1 208 26 4 San Jose State
30 Kuhn, John RB 6-0 250 28 5 Shippensburg
70 Lang, T.J. T/G 6-4 318 23 2 Eastern Michigan
86 Lee, Donald TE 6-4 248 30 8 Mississippi State
22 Lee, Pat CB 6-0 196 26 3 Auburn
34 Levine, Anthony S 5-11 199 23 R Tennessee State
29 Martin, Derrick S 5-10 198 25 5 Wyoming
8 Masthay, Tim P 6-1 200 23 1 Kentucky
52 Matthews, Clay LB 6-3 255 24 2 Southern California
67 McDonald, Nick C/G 6-4 316 23 R Grand Valley State
23 Nance, Dimitri RB 5-10 219 22 R Arizona State
96 Neal, Mike DE 6-3 294 23 R Purdue
87 Nelson, Jordy WR 6-3 217 25 3 Kansas State
74 Newhouse, Marshall G/T 6-4 319 22 R Texas Christian
26 Peprah, Charlie S 5-11 203 27 5 Alabama
79 Pickett, Ryan DE 6-2 340 31 10 Ohio State
51 Poppinga, Brady LB 6-3 250 31 6 Brigham Young
81 Quarless, Andrew TE 6-4 252 22 R Penn State
90 Raji, B.J. NT 6-2 337 24 2 Boston College
17 Robinson, Antonio WR 6-1 195 25 R Nicholls State
12 Rodgers, Aaron QB 6-2 225 27 6 California
68 Ross, Jay DT 6-3 302 23 R East Carolina
37 Shields, Sam CB 5-11 184 23 R Miami (Fla.)
71 Sitton, Josh G 6-3 318 24 3 Central Florida
27 Smith, Anthony S 6-0 200 27 5 Syracuse
72 Spitz, Jason C/G 6-3 305 28 5 Louisville
44 Starks, James RB 6-2 218 24 R Buffalo
16 Swain, Brett WR 6-0 200 25 2 San Diego State
65 Tauscher, Mark T 6-3 320 33 11 Wisconsin
28 Underwood, Brandon CB 6-1 191 24 2 Cincinnati
93 Walden, Erik LB 6-2 250 25 3 Middle Tennessee State
63 Wells, Scott C 6-2 300 30 7 Tennessee
11 West, Chastin WR 6-1 216 23 R Fresno State
57 Wilhelm, Matt LB 6-4 247 30 8 Ohio State
38 Williams, Tramon CB 5-11 191 27 4 Louisiana Tech
98 Wilson, C.J. DE 6-3 290 23 R East Carolina
21 Woodson, Charles CB 6-1 202 34 13 Michigan
94 Wynn, Jarius DE 6-3 285 24 2 Georgia
60 Young, Curtis LB/DE 6-1 270 24 R Cincinnati
58 Zombo, Frank LB 6-3 254 23 R Central Michigan

WHEW - who knew it would be that long!!

The excerpt below was written by a Fox 6 sports anchor in Milwaukee.

"Save Me a Spot"

This job affords me some incredible opportunities. Being a member of the FOX 6 Sports team means I've been able to witness and report on events and people that many can only admire from a distance. I never take these situations for granted and sincerely appreciate being involved in them.

Monday marked just the most recent case as I had the unparalleled privilege to be a part of Aaron Rodgers charity event to benefit the MACC Fund, a charity towards eradicating childhood cancer and blood disorders.

Scattered throughout the crowd of rabid Packers aficionados, were the people who I consider the event's real MVPs. They are the families who've been forced to deal with one of life's toughest sentences - the loss of a child.

Those who sprung for the tickets were not disappointed. In a world where many athletes regurgitate canned and rehearsed responses, the Packers quarterback was refreshingly candid. Aaron addressed a number of topics with in-depth, honest reaction - even some that if reprinted and mass distributed might raise some eyebrows.

He stressed the importance of availability and accountability. In his opinion, it is a player's responsibility to attend all of the team activities as they are all intended to better the team as a whole. And then, similarly, he addressed the importance of taking the heat/criticism when one falls short of expectations and duties.

He is never nervous to take the field. Aaron is supremely confident in the preparation he's put in during the week leading up to Sunday's match up. The way the 2009 season ended was disappointing, but his self-confidence was not affected by the outcome. One of the toughest realizations was that that combination of players would never take the field together again. He likened the team to a family and admitted that conflict can and does occasionally exist, but they try to handle such situations with maturity and civility.

He talked music and his love for tunes at a young age revealing that his mom used to sing and play lullabies and country music when he was a child. Aaron's record label Suspended Sunrise is a product of this passion, but also a contingency plan for life after football. His favorite song is Ben Harper's 'Forever' and he's envious of John Mayer's guitar skills though not his tabloid reputation. He appreciated my affinity for Keith Urban, but gave the audience a thumbs-down when I mentioned fellow country crooner Kenny Chesney

His favorite book is The Bible and he tries to read it every day, not just when life's challenges and struggles surface.

His favorite movie is The Princess Bride which he admits he's caught flack for but says he and his childhood friends can recite every line from the film and it is simply a great story.

Rodgers' answers to questions on this night were certainly admirable. And I honestly didn't think I could respect Aaron more. But I was wrong.

My friend, the father of that young girl who passed, was there that night. He was one of several attendees brought up on stage where he caught a football thrown by the quarterback of the Green Bay Packers.

He asked Aaron to sign the football he'd caught. He wondered if he'd make it out to his daughter. It isn't shocking that Rodgers obliged. What caught me off guard was the dedication he made. It wasn't until after Aaron left that I first saw the autograph... and the simple yet sweet message that brought tears to this father's eyes:

"To Cheri the angel. Save me a spot. - Aaron Rodgers"

I hope that Packers fans realize how lucky they are to have such an upstanding young man leading their team on the field every weekend. I hope they appreciate the challenges that were thrust upon him and acknowledge the maturity with which he handled them. I hope they stand behind the kid and respect him not only for his incredible talent, but for his intelligence and honesty, poise and compassion.

My job has afforded me the chance to watch Aaron Rodgers play football for the last few seasons. But I am truly thankful for the opportunity to see the other side of this impressive young man. And pass on some of what I witnessed.

On paper at least, the Green Bay Packers will play a slightly less challenging schedule in 2011 than they just got through playing in 2010.

The Packers' opponents for next season, which were determined by formula, had a composite record of 130-126, or a winning percentage of .508.

This season, their opponents were 133-123, for a winning percentage of .520.

In 2011, Green Bay will play five games against opponents that made the playoffs. This season, the Packers wound up playing six games against playoff teams.

Next year at home, the Packers will play New Orleans (11-5), Tampa Bay (10-6), Denver (4-12), Oakland (8-8) and St. Louis (7-9).
On the road, the Packers will play Atlanta (13-3), Carolina (2-14), Kansas City (10-6), San Diego (9-7) and the New York Giants (10-6).
In addition, the Packers will play home-and-away series against NFC North foes Chicago (11-5), Detroit (6-10) and Minnesota (6-10).

In 2010, the NFC North teams were matched against the NFC East and the AFC East. The AFC East tied for first in best-overall record (36-28) of any division, and the NFC East was fifth at 32-32.

Next season, the NFC North clubs will be matched against the NFC South and the AFC West. The NFC South tied for the best record (36-28), whereas the AFC West finished sixth at 31-33.

Denver will be making its first appearance at Lambeau Field since 2003. Conversely, the Packers will be making their first trip to San Diego since 2003.